


A Single Fallen Petal

by TopHatCat



Category: Kuroshitsuji : The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World - Iwasaki/Mori/Mari, Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:05:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9306539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TopHatCat/pseuds/TopHatCat
Summary: He was only gone an hour and a half.  But the Thorns of Death don't strike so Alan can fall safely into Eric's arms.





	

He was only gone an hour and a half.  Alan had said he was going to begin dinner and Eric had two soul retrievals in the city.

“I see ya soon, love!” he had called and Alan had responded in kind as he left the house. 

Now he pulled up to the curb, parked the orange sports car, and headed through the gate to the front door.

“I’m home!” Eric called, entering the second floor flat.  Entering the kitchen, the first thing he saw was the pot on the backburner overflowing.

“Alan!  Your water is boiling over!” he called to the rest of the house as he hurried to the stove.  He had hardly rounded the island however when he was stopped dead in his tracks by the sight of his partner lying inert on the kitchen floor.  A bolt of terror went through Eric so fast spots jumped in front of his eyes, and he dropped to Alan’s side.

“Alan, Alan,” he said desperately, gently touching the reaper’s face.  Alan’s eyes remained closed, and his skin was hot and dry under Eric’s hands.

“Oh god, no,” Eric pleaded, placing his palm to Alan’s neck.  A shuddering sob escaped his lips when he felt the faint heartbeat flutter where he touched.  _‘The medication, I need to get him the medication.’_

Not wanting to leave Alan’s side, yet knowing he had to, Eric used the counter to pull himself to his feet.  He tore down the hall, passing the cats, who meowed and jumped out of the way as he burst into the bedroom.

“Where the hell is it!”

Yanking open the nightstand drawer on Alan’s side of the bed, Eric recognized the syringe rolling amongst the handkerchiefs and homemade bookmarks.  Grabbing it, the tall reaper bolted back to the kitchen, and kneeled back beside Alan.

“Come on,” he moaned, pushing Alan’s sleeve up to reveal the inside of his arm.  As he put the tip of the needle to his lover’s skin, Eric realized how much he was shaking.  Trying and failing to steady his hand, Eric carefully pushed the thin metal point into Alan’s skin.  It seemed an eternity, the time the drug took to leave the syringe and enter Alan’s body, but eventually the clear glass case empty.  Setting the tool on the floor, Eric cupped Alan’s face in his hands, looking intently at the reaper’s face.

“Come on, flower,” he begged, but Alan was still pale and quiet. “Oh god, please…”

Under his fingers, Alan’s heartbeat struggled to keep a rhythm, and it stopped, started again, and didn’t regain a steady pulse.   Eric’s tears cascaded down his face, the droplets falling onto Alan’s cheeks.  His mind was blank, empty of everything but the thought of that heartbeat stopping for good.

“Help,” he managed, and that word gave him motivation.  Dragging himself to his feet, he staggered to the phone and dialed with trembling fingers.  The first bit of relief entered him as the line clicked.

“Spears, here.”

“W-,” Eric struggled to speak, stretching the phone cord back to Alan.  “Will!”

There was only one thing that could bring that level of terror into Eric’s voice, and Will knew it.  “Talk to me, Slingby.”

“I-I got home, and he was just lying on the floor,” Eric said, cradling the phone on his shoulder and drawing Alan’s limp body onto his lap.  “He’s not waking up, Will!  He’s not waking up!”

“Did you give him his medication?” Will asked, and Eric could hear background noise of the reaper hurrying around his office.

“Yes,” the tall reaper answered, his tears not abating.

“I’m coming over,” Will continued.  “Don’t move.  I’m going to call an ambulance now.  Don’t do _anything_ , alright?”

“He’s dying,” Eric whispered, running his shaking hand over Alan’s hair. “He’s dying, Will, in my arms.”

“He’s not dying,” Will snapped, and then his voice became gentler. “I’m hanging up now.  It’s going to be okay, Eric.  Got it?”

“Okay,” Eric said softly as the call ended.  Letting the phone drop to the floor, Eric cradled Alan gently in his arms, bending protectively over the smaller reaper.  “It’s okay, Alan.  It’s gonna be okay.”

Will arrived with paramedics at his heels.  The reaper quickly moved to the stove, where the water had doused the flames and the dead burner was still releasing gas into the flat.  He turned off the stove and then turned to pull Eric to his feet as the two paramedics lifted Alan onto a stretcher.

“I want to ride with him,” the Eric croaked, and Will nodded.

“Alright, you can.”

In the back of the ambulance Eric knelt beside Alan, while on his other side one of the paramedics slid a small needle into Alan’s arm, attaching the thin tube to a beeping machine.  Taking Alan’s hand, Eric glanced at the monitor.

“Is he…?”

“He’s alive for the moment,” the paramedic said. “But we need to get him to the Infirmary facilities immediately.”

She didn’t dispose any more information after that and Eric found himself praying to deities he didn’t believe in.

_‘Please.  Don’t let this stupid illness take him!  Not my flower…’_

When they arrived at the Infirmary, he wasn’t allowed in the room as they tried to get Alan’s condition to stable, and Eric was forced to wait in a cold white area with hard chairs.  He sank into one of the seats and buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with sobs.  A few minutes later he felt someone sit beside him and a hand rest of his shoulder.  Eric didn’t acknowledge the reaper’s presence, and Will simply sat in silence.  What was there to say?

When Will finally did speak, he also got to his feet.  “I will see what is happening in there,” he stated, and left Eric alone.

His chest hurt but he couldn’t stop crying.  Out of all the times Alan had had an attack, none had dragged him this close to death, and Eric thought if Will came back with the wrong news, he just might die himself.  Gasping for breath, Eric tried to calm himself down, but he was still trembling when Will returned.

“Don’t worry,” the dark haired reaper said, and his usually stoic tone was filled with passionate relief, “He’s going to be okay.”

At that, Eric began to cry harder, though he knew the news should have stopped his tears.  Looking up, he gazed blurrily at Will.

“C-can I see him now?”

Will nodded and, seeing Eric was having trouble collecting himself, moved forward and helped the reaper to his feet.  Together they walked into the room where Alan lay.  Going to a bedside chair, Eric sat down and gripped his partner’s hand as Will hung back.  Alan was wearing an oxygen mask and his eyes were closed, but he looked better, and the monitor read that his heartbeat was stable again.

“Oh, Alan,” Eric whispered. “Thank goodness…”

As he spoke, Alan’s eyelashes fluttered and he slowly turned his head, looking at Eric from under heavy lids.

“E…Eric?” he whispered.

“Hey, baby,” the tall reaper said with a watery smile.  “How ya doing?”

“My chest doesn’t hurt as much,” Alan replied softly.  He lifted his hand and touched Eric’s cheek, brushing away tears with his thumb.  “Are you crying over me again?”

“It’s just the onions you were cutting for dinner,” Eric answered, and Alan smiled gently.

“Silly Eric,” he said.  “I love you.”

Eric closed his eyes, cherishing Alan’s gentle touch against his skin.  He never wanted to lose this, this miracle of a man who had come into his life.  Pressing his lips to the Alan’s fingers, Eric lifted his gaze to his partner’s face.

“I love you too, flower.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is segment of the long Alan/Eric story title 'Unmei' that I am currently writing.


End file.
